The Twilight Zone (2002 TV series)
| presenter = Forest Whitaker | country = United States | location = Vancouver, British Columbia | language = English | executive_producer = John Watson Mark Stern Ira Steven Behr Pen Densham | composer = Mark Snow | company = Spirit Dance Entertainment Trilogy Entertainment Group New Line Television | network = UPN | first_aired = | last_aired = | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 43 | preceded_by = [[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|''The Twilight Zone]] (1985–89) | followed_by = The Twilight Zone (2019–) }} The Twilight Zone is the second of three revivals of Rod Serling's original 1959–64 television series. It aired for one season on the UPN network, with actor Forest Whitaker assuming Serling's role as narrator and on-screen host. It premiered on September 18, 2002, and aired its final episode on May 21, 2003. Series history Broadcast in an hour format with two half-hour stories, it was canceled after one season. Reruns continue to air in syndication and have aired on MyNetworkTV since summer 2008. The opening theme music was provided by Jonathan Davis (singer of the band Korn). The series tended to address contemporary issues head-on; i.e. terrorism, racism, gender roles, sexuality, and stalking. Noteworthy episodes featured Jason Alexander as Death wanting to retire from harvesting souls, Lou Diamond Phillips as a swimming pool cleaner being shot repeatedly in his dreams, Susanna Thompson as a woman whose stated wish results in an "upgrading" of her family, Usher as a police officer being bothered by telephone calls from beyond the grave, Brian Austin Green as a businessman who encounters items from his past that somehow reappear, Jeffrey Combs as a hypochondriac whose diseases become reality, and Katherine Heigl playing a woman who went back in time on a suicide mission to kill the infant Adolf Hitler. The series also includes remakes and updates of stories presented in the original Twilight Zone television series, including the famous "Eye of the Beholder" starring Molly Sims. One of the updates, "The Monsters Are on Maple Street", is a modernized version of the classic episode similarly called "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street". The original show was about the paranoia surrounding a neighborhood-wide blackout. In the course of the episode, somebody suggests an alien invasion being the cause of the blackouts, and that one of the neighbors may be an alien. The anti-alien hysteria is an allegory for the anti-communist paranoia of the time, and the 2003 remake, starring Andrew McCarthy and Titus Welliver, replaces aliens with terrorists. The show also contains "It's Still a Good Life", a sequel to the events of "It's a Good Life", an episode of the original series produced 41 years earlier. Bill Mumy returned to play the adult version of Anthony, the demonic child he had played in the original story, with Mumy's daughter, Liliana, appearing as Anthony's daughter, a more benevolent but even more powerful child. Cloris Leachman also returned as Anthony's mother. Mumy went on to serve as a screenwriter for other episodes in the revival. Other guest stars include: Penn Badgley, Scott Bairstow, Jason Bateman, Gil Bellows, Elizabeth Berkley, Xander Berkeley, Linda Cardellini, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Rory Culkin, Reed Diamond, Shannon Elizabeth, Ethan Embry, Sean Patrick Flanery, Lukas Haas, Wood Harris, Hill Harper, Jonathan Jackson, Moira Kelly, Erik King, Wayne Knight, Wallace Langham, Method Man, Samantha Mathis, Christopher McDonald, Tangi Miller, Pat O'Brien, Adrian Pasdar, Emily Perkins, Jeremy Piven, Jaime Pressly, James Remar, Portia de Rossi, Eriq La Salle, Michael Shanks, Jeremy Sisto, Jessica Simpson, Ione Skye, Amber Tamblyn, Christopher Titus, Robin Tunney, Vincent Ventresca, Dylan Walsh, Frank Whaley, Alicia Witt, and Gordon Michael Woolvett. McDonald, Langham, Xander Berkeley, and Haas had all previously guest starred in the 1980s revival. The series did not enjoy the same level of critical or ratings success as the original series or the 1980s revival, and only lasted one season. Episodes |ProdCode=106 |ShortSummary= A rebellious teenage girl (Amber Tamblyn) and her exasperated family move to a gated community with a stringent emphasis on conforming to certain norms and a unique way of dealing with troubled youths. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=103 |ShortSummary= An up-and-coming medical doctor (Tyler Christopher) suffering from severe headaches encounters a suicidal patient (Jason Alexander) claiming to be Death looking to take a break from his life's work. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=107 |ShortSummary= A Caucasian man (Vincent Ventresca) finds himself being mistaken for an African-American man after refusing to save a college professor (Hill Harper) from being attacked and killed by skinheads. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=105 |ShortSummary= A graphic novelist (Adrian Pasdar) suffering from a severe case of writer's block struggles to determine what is illusion and what is reality after bringing his ideal woman (Shannon Elizabeth) to life. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=104 |ShortSummary= A woman (Katherine Heigl) goes back in time to 1889 Austria in a desperate attempt to rewrite history by assassinating Adolf Hitler in his infancy and preventing World War II from ever taking place. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=102 |ShortSummary= An English professor (Ione Skye) juggles preparing for her wedding and convincing her friends and family she is being followed by a mysterious bus that started haunting her after she narrowly avoided being hit by a car. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=109 |ShortSummary= An orderly (Ethan Embry) suffering from blackouts discovers his condition is the result of a police officer using his body to prevent an assassination attempt on the President of the United States and the First Daughter. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=108 |ShortSummary= An emotionally distraught widow (Portia di Rossi) obsessed with bringing her dead husband's murderer to justice discover she can see his life and the events surrounding his death through his eyeglasses. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=111 |ShortSummary= A pool cleaner (Lou Diamond Phillips) working for a wealthy couple starts suffering from recurring nightmares involving a man (Mackenzie Gray) who approaches him, tells him to wake up, and guns him down. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=112 |ShortSummary= A boy (Rory Culkin) beset by abuse from the neighborhood bullies and his alcoholic father learns a valuable life lesson about vengeance and courage after willing his favorite superhero (Patrick Warburton) to life. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=101 |ShortSummary= A lineman (Jeremy Piven) gradually discovers everything comes with a price after being struck by lightning, gaining the ability to hear other people's thoughts, and using his newfound powers for personal and financial gain. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=110 |ShortSummary= A talentless wannabe rock musician (Lukas Haas) gains talent, wealth, and international stardom at a surprising price tag after purchasing a classic guitar with dark powers and an equally dark past. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=113 |ShortSummary= A housewife (Susanna Thompson) juggles moving into a new house with her dysfuctional family, fantasizing about the life she wants to live, and preventing her seemingly idyllic fantasies from becoming reality. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=115 |ShortSummary= An idealistic young police officer (Usher) dedicates himself to doing whatever it takes to protect a prostitute and family friend from the vindictive ghost of the pimp he was forced to shoot and kill in the line of duty. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=114 |ShortSummary= A destitute man (Jake Busey) sets out to unearth what he believes to be a conspiracy after the arrival of two persistent evangelists coincides with several disappearances and a potential nuclear Armageddon. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=116 |ShortSummary= A magazine writer (Greg Germann) whose fiancée believes in not having sex until after marriage interacts with a woman (Jaime Pressly) from a virtual-reality simulation who wants him all to herself. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=117 |ShortSummary= An elite special forces team living in a futuristic utopia that is free of violence and criminal activity sets out to track down and execute a vicious creature responsible for the deaths of several civilians. |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=118 |ShortSummary= A toy doll (voiced by Pat O'Brien) with a sinister personality encourages a timid pharmaceutical employee (Wallace Langham) to stand up to his business manager (Christopher McDonald) and take control of his life. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=119 |ShortSummary= A sports agent (Rob Estes) and a real estate agent (Elizabeth Berkley) stranded in a modern version of the Garden of Eden struggle to keep their idyllic world from crumbling when an injured motorcyclist (Nicki Aycox) with a working cell phone arrives. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=121 |ShortSummary= A man (Frank Whaley) with a dead-end job at a big-box store and a dysfunctional family learns that leading the privileged life isn't everything he hoped it would be after trading his future for that of a man with a trophy wife (Sofia Milos). |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=120 |ShortSummary= A troubled businessman (Brian Austin Green) receives an opportunity to go back in time, revisit his past, and make another attempt to win the heart of the young woman he once loved (Moira Kelly). |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=123 |ShortSummary= A deliveryman (Christopher Titus) suffering from consistent bad luck sets out to challenge fate after getting into a car accident, hitting his head, and gaining the uncanny ability to see the events surrounding his bad breaks. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=122 |ShortSummary= A young man (Greg Serano) takes his terminally ill childhood friend (Clifton Collins, Jr.) to a local racetrack for a final ride in his GT street racer that results in unexpected consequences for both men. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=125 |ShortSummary= A dissatisfied tabloid magazine writer (Linda Cardellini) gradually becomes obsessed with relying on a fortune teller (Method Man) who provides her with uncannily accurate predictions about where her life is headed. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=124 |ShortSummary= A flower shop employee (Taryn Manning) finds herself struggling to convince people a troubled pet store employee (Devon Gummersall) suffering from dissociative identity disorder is stalking her. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=126 |ShortSummary= A celebrated hip-hop artist (Wood Harris) with a privileged life and a loving family experiences confusing visions that plague him to the point where the thin lines separating fantasy from reality start to blur. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=127 |ShortSummary= A compulsive gambler (Eddie Kaye Thomas) discovers a way to beat the local casino owner (Ben Bass) after being gifted with a tape cassette recorder with the power to go back five minutes in time. |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=129 |ShortSummary= A gang member and street tagger (Todd Williams) becomes consumed by guilt after killing a man caught painting over his mural and seeing the mural transform into a real-life portrait of the crime. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=128 |ShortSummary= A high school English teacher (Samantha Mathis) set on resigning due to lack of interest from her apathetic students develops the ability to look into a person's face and predict if they are going to die. |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=131 |ShortSummary= A single father (Bill Mumy) who terrorized the residents of an Ohio town with amazing mental powers as a child discovers his young daughter (Liliana Mumy) has powers that are stronger than his. |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=130 |ShortSummary= An unexpected power and water failure prompts the residents of a quiet suburban neighborhood to grow increasingly suspicious of their new neighbors and accuse them of being sleeper cell terrorists. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=133 |ShortSummary= A law clerk (Eriq La Salle) with six months left to live due to an inoperable brain tumor finds himself transported back in time to Memphis, Tennessee on the day of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=132 |ShortSummary= A woman (Bonnie Somerville) contemplating divorce from her husband (Steve Bacic) finds himself forced to participate in a twisted reality game show after receiving a telephone call claiming her son has been kidnapped. |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=134 |ShortSummary= A medical practitioner (Sydney Tamiia Poitier) attempts to dissuade a hypochondriac (Jeffrey Combs) from believing he has contracted a deadly disease found in the pages of a science-fiction novel. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=135 |ShortSummary= A brilliant physicist (Sean Patrick Flanery) becomes involved in a deadly psychological struggle with a scientist (Ian McShane) after being tasked with taking part in the final start-up preparations for an infinite power source. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=139 |ShortSummary= An up-and-coming illusionist (Shawn Hatosy) insinuates herself into the lives of a reclusive veteran magician (Xander Berkeley) and his young wife (Lindy Booth) in an attempt to unlock the secrets behind a centuries-old illusion. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=138 |ShortSummary= A babysitter (Jessica Simpson) suspects an eerily lifelike doll collection belonging to her latest client's charge (Ashley Edner) is connected to the mysterious disappearances of her previous sitters. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=140 |ShortSummary= A young woman (Molly Sims) living in a futuristic society that has labeled her hideous waits to learn if the 11th and final attempt to surgically make her look like everyone else is successful or not. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=141 |ShortSummary= A photographer (Robin Tunney) becomes convinced her deceased fiancé is attempting to contact her from beyond the grave after finding him in several photographs that could never had been taken. |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=143 |ShortSummary= A death row inmate (Jeremy Sisto) sets out to convince his defense attorney (Alicia Witt) that he did not commit the crime he was convicted of as an unknown force starts interfering with his executions. |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=142 |ShortSummary= A Delta Force officer (Gil Bellows) recently discharged from combat juggles making amends with his wayward teenage son (Penn Badgley) and preventing him from unearthing a mysterious secret. |LineColor=175A7B }} |OriginalAirDate= |ProdCode=137 |ShortSummary= Five college students (Jonathan Jackson, Sarah Carter, Michael Peña, Lauren Lee Smith, and Tyler Labine) exploring an Aztec site struggle to decide who they must sacrifice after knocking over a jug filled with blood and enacting a curse that causes the sun to go out. |LineColor=175A7B }} |ProdCode=136 |ShortSummary= An agoraphobic real estate mogul (Jason Bateman) finds himself forced to confront the sins of his past when the vindictive ghosts of two young children killed in an arson fire he orchestrated start haunting him. |LineColor=175A7B }} }} Home media The complete series was released on DVD by New Line in a six disc box set on September 7, 2004. The episodes are presented in their production order, not their broadcast order. See also * ''The Twilight Zone'' (franchise) * The Twilight Zone * ''The Twilight Zone'' (1985) * ''The Twilight Zone'' (2019 TV series) References External links * * *Discussion of the episodes *Episode numbers and details Category:2002 American television series debuts Category:2003 American television series endings Category:2000s American science fiction television series Category:UPN network shows Category:The Twilight Zone Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Category:Television series reboots Category:English-language television programs Category:American anthology television series Category:Works by Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz Category:Television series produced in Vancouver Category:Television series created by Rod Serling Category:Television series by New Line Television Category:Science fiction anthology television series